A True Gentleman
by perpetualpathology
Summary: Sam Kent slips in the shower, bangs her head and injures her ankle. Her husband, Tom, comes to her rescue immediately and takes her to Holby ED where they used to work and she finds herself needing a little TLC after spending most of the day at the hospital. Also, information about my prompt challenge inside if anyone has any ideas!


**Summary:** Sam Kent slips in the shower and needs a little TLC from her husband after a visit to A&E. Prompted by OliverColeman.

 **Prompt 1/100**

 **A True Gentleman**

 **This is the first instalment for my one hundred prompt writing challenge and was inspired by a prompt from OliverColeman. I still need a lot more prompts so if anyone has any ideas (could be for Holby City, Casualty, Hunger Games or Divergent) then please leave it in a review, PM me or post in my forum for Holby City entitled General Holby Stuff. It could be one word or a summary and I'll write about pretty much all of the characters in those fandoms. Anyway, hope you enjoy reading this!**

She woke to find someone knelt in front of her. Who it was, she had no idea because her vision was hazy as she regained consciousness but whilst her eyes were slow to recover, her ears weren't and she'd know the voice of her own husband anywhere.

"Come on, open your eyes. I know you can hear me." Tom said softly as he cupped a hand on her cheek and patted it gently to rouse her. "There we go." He smiled as he looked into her bluey grey eyes whilst she blinked several times. "What happened? Did you slip or did you pass out?" He questioned as he grabbed her towel, that had been warming on the radiator, and laid it over the damp woman whom he'd found on the floor of their shower after he'd heard a loud crashing from upstairs. She looked at him in confusion before memories of what had happened came flooding back – she had just began showering when a lack of friction between her feet and the shower basin caused her to take a tumble.

"I slipped because you took the bloody bath mat out to clean it and didn't put it back." She murmured. She seemed a little angry but she knew deep down that it wasn't really his fault and she couldn't be mad at the man who had rushed to her aid.

"You've cut your forehead on the tiles." He stated as he wiped away a drip of blood to prevent it from dripping into her eye. She already had several drips of the thick red liquid down her face and it was all coming from an inch long laceration just above her eyebrow.

"I'll be fin– ah." She grimaced as she attempted to sit up because she felt a sharp pain shoot down her lower limb.

"What else have you hurt?"

"My right ankle."

"Well then, I think you're going to have to go to A&E." He stated.

"It's probably just a sprain."

"No, you need to have a head CT at least; you've hit your head and blacked out." He said sternly. "We'll have to go to Holby ED because St James' is on black alert and you won't get seen for hours there." Tom stated.

"No, can't we go to Southmead hospital?" She groaned. She knew staff from both hospitals that he had mentioned as one was an ex-employer and one was a current employer and she knew doctors never were the best patients. They'd left Holby over a year ago to escape all the memories and instead had made new ones in their first year of marriage as Sam worked in the emergency department of St James' hospital and Tom had gotten a job on the paediatrics ward there too.

"Southmead is over an hour away – we can't go there." Tom protested.

"The one day we don't have work and we're going to spend it in hospital." Sam huffed.

"Come on, let's get you up. The sooner we get there, the sooner you can get some pain relief."

* * *

"I need an admissions form please." Tom requested as he stood at reception in the department where he had worked a long time ago.

"Tom? Oh my god, what are you doing here mate?" Noel asked.

"Someone slipped in the shower." Tom stated and Noel then peered over the desk to see that in front of it Sam was sat in a wheelchair with her wet hair tied up in a bun wearing tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie. She also had dried blood from her forehead down to her cheek and didn't look too pleased about spending her Sunday in hospital.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Well here are the forms, I'm sure you know the drill. Take a seat, fill them out and hand them in to reception once they're completed." Noel explained as he handed them a clipboard with a pen under the clamp at the top.

"Okay, thank you." Tom took the clipboard and put it on Sam's lap before he wheeled her over to a row of seats. He sat on the end seat and then took the forms from her with the intention of filling them out for her as he knew she'd find them tedious. Sam sat there for a couple of minutes looking around to see if she could recognise any members of staff but many of them were unfamiliar. She was relieved that none of her former colleagues had seen the less than casual state of dress she was in but she was also a little disheartened that there wasn't anyone there to speed up her admission and hopefully get her out of there fast. "Right, I've left a couple of the questions for you to fill out." He stated as he handed her the clipboard.

She looked through the first form to find all her personal details like her address had been filled out but on the next page, a few questions about her health had been left unanswered.

"You don't know if I'm pregnant or not?" She complained as she put a black tick in the ' _No'_ box.

"I thought I'd better make sure." Tom shrugged. Sam rolled her eyes before she filled out the rest of the form and checked to make sure he'd filled it out correctly. She then put the clipboard in her lap and used her hands to wheel the chair over to reception and held it up.

"Noel, it's done."

"Oh right, thanks. I'll put it on the system now." He replied. Sam then turned the chair around and wheeled it back over to her husband who was giving her stern look.

"What? I'm not an invalid." She protested.

"You blacked out, you should take it easy." He stated. They sat there looking around to see how much had changed since they'd left when they heard a grumble over the background noise of the waiting area. "Was that your stomach?"

"I was going to have breakfast after I'd had a shower." Sam nodded.

"Do you want me to run to the café and get you something? We're probably going to be waiting a while."

"Um, you could get me a cereal bar from the hospital shop. And a cup of coffee to go with it to save you from going all the way to the café."

"Okay, I'll be back in a minute." He nodded as he got up. "Stay here." He ordered slowly.

"Yes sir." She huffed.

* * *

Zoe Hanna walked out to reception and picked up the first patient's admission form and file from the tray behind the desk.

"Sam Kent?" She called and it wasn't until she had said the name that she realised she recognised it.

"We've only been waiting an hour, not bad." Sam smirked as Tom wheeled her towards the consultant.

"What happened to you?" Zoe asked as she observed the facial laceration.

"She slipped in the shower, hit her head, blacked out and hurt her ankle. But because I took out the non-slip mat, it's _my_ fault." Tom said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well come through to cubicles and we'll try to get you patched up quickly." Zoe said as she opened the doors to allow Tom to push Sam's wheelchair through them. "Where are you two working now? Are you still local?"

"Yeah, we're working at St James'." Sam stated. "Our ED is going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment. One of our consultants resigned and a registrar has had to take leave for bereavement so we're always behind on patient numbers. We've been on black alert for eleven days in the past month which is why we came here."

"I know because we always have to take on the patients you put on divert." Zoe stated. "Do you need a hand?" She asked as she showed them to a cubicle.

"No thanks." Sam replied and once Tom had put the brakes on, Sam transferred herself to the bed, being cautious of her painful foot. "Is Fletch around?" She asked. Once they'd entered cubicles Sam had been relieved to see many familiar faces amongst the nursing staff but many of the people in doctor's scrubs were new to her – the two men she'd seen must've been her and Tom's replacements.

"No, Fletch works up on AAU now I'm afraid. Right, let me have a look at this laceration." Zoe said as she pulled some gloves on.

"I've already checked it in a mirror. It needs steri-strips and nothing is embedded but I will need a head CT because I blacked out. Apart from that, I need a leg x-ray to clear my leg and then I can go."

"Sam you're off duty and you're the patient." Tom reminded her.

"Yes and I'm sure Zoe has got lots of clinical lead things to do so I'm making her job easier."

"Actually, I resigned as clinical lead; it was just too much work so I'm just a senior consultant now." Zoe stated as she checked the wound herself just to make sure Sam was right. "Okay, I'll get a nurse to come and close the wound with steri-strips and I'll get you a head CT and leg x-ray booked in but I must warn you, we are running behind schedule today with the CT scanner because one of them is being cleaned after an incident yesterday."

"Couldn't you bump us up the list please?" Tom requested.

"Sorry Tom, Mr Hansen's lurking around today and I'd rather do everything by the book."

"It's fine. I've got someone to keep me company." Sam forced a smile as she glanced at her husband.

* * *

After having her head wound closed, Sam was taken for both her x-ray and her head CT within two hours and had been waiting for the results when Zoe walked over with a tablet in her hands.

"Your head CT is all clear." Zoe declared.

"Great, we can go home now then. The pain relief has kicked in and I feel fine now."

"You're not going anywhere just yet, you've got a broken ankle." Zoe added which left Sam looking befuddled.

"Can I have a look please?" Tom asked.

"Sure." Zoe nodded and she Tom the tablet which he observed himself whilst he held it at an angle for his spouse to see at the same time.

"Well, at least the bones are still aligned. How long will she be waiting to go in the plaster room?" He asked curiously.

"I think it's free at the moment, I'll just try and find someone–"

"I can do it." Tom offered.

"On an ordinary day I'd be happy to let you Tom but like I said Mr Hansen is still lurking around and I don't think he'll take kindly to a member of the public treating patients." Zoe replied. "Don't worry, I'll go and find someone now." Zoe took the tablet from Tom before she left the cubicle.

"How am I supposed to work for six to twelve weeks on crutches?" Sam complained as she let her head hit the pillow and looked up to the ceiling. "I can't take any time off or the ED will be on black alert for sure."

"I'll pop down whenever I can and give you a hand. And you won't have to lift a finger at home. Or should I say toe?" He joked sheepishly and she rolled her eyes at his humour. "We'll manage, we always do." He said softly as he tucked a few strands of damp hair behind her ear before he kissed her on the side of her forehead that wasn't injured.

* * *

By late evening, she was tucked in bed with her plastered leg elevated by pillows to prevent swelling and her crutches leaning against her bedside table. The plaster – which covered her foot but ended just below her knee – was light blue since the scrubs she wore at work were ceil blue and they would almost match.

"The painkillers you got at the hospital should wear off soon so I'll leave this here for when you need it." Tom stated as he placed a box of paracetamol next to her alarm clock as well as a chilled bottle of mineral water.

"Thank you." She replied but when he looked back at her, he realised she was smiling at him and had been doing so for a while.

"What?" He frowned in confusion.

"Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have you."

"It's just some painkillers."

"Which I didn't ask for but will probably need. Just like I didn't ask for you to make dinner or help me change into my pyjamas or phone my boss to let him know what's happened and got me the day off tomorrow. Most men wouldn't do any of that."

"Clearly you haven't been with many decent men." Tom smirked as he sat on the edge of the bed next to her. "I don't think we'll have time in the morning but after work I'll go to the drugs store and see if they've got one of those plastic bags to cover your leg so you can shower like normal." He stated. "You'll be pleased to know I've put the non-slip mat back in the shower." He grinned.

"I'm sorry I blamed you this morning. It's not your fault at all; I noticed that the mat had been taken out when I got in the shower but I was already undressed and didn't want to go and get it so I took a shower anyway."

"It was an accident; it was no one's fault and I'm not taking what you said personally – you weren't exactly fully lucid at the time."

"I was perfectly coherent." She protested.

"You thought you'd sprained something when actually you had a broken leg."

"Yeah well I have a high pain threshold. It didn't _feel_ broken." She shrugged.

"Well just make sure you take paracetamol regularly for at least the next few days or the pain will creep up on you – trust me I know, I broke a lot of bones when I was younger." He informed her as he walked around his side of the bed and slid underneath the covers.

"Well, I can tick off learning something new about you today then." She smiled. After getting married, they'd agreed to try and learn something new about each other every day to prevent them from falling into habits and just living day after day as though their relationship wasn't something to celebrate. "And tomorrow, I'm going to learn how you broke those bones when you were younger but I'm too tired to do it tonight." She said wearily before she pulled the duvet up to her chin and closed her eyes.

"Well I was going to make you eggs benedict in the morning before I leave for work but if you're tired, you won't want me to wake you–"

"I think I'll manage to open my eyes for my favourite breakfast." She smiled coyly. Tom grinned before he stretched his arm to flick the light switch so that they were engulfed by darkness. "Night."

"Sweet dreams." He whispered. And soon they both fell asleep knowing that the person they each loved the most in the world was right there beside them.

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget if you have any ideas for my prompt challenge then let me know :)**


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